Smashburger drags Jollibee’s net income lower in first quarter

Fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) saw its attributable net income falling by 14.7 percent to P1.5 billion in the first quarter of the year after its recently acquired US-based Smashburger incurred losses.

JFC said in a regulatory filing that excluding Smashburger, which was just recently consolidated in the financial statements of the company, its operating income grew by 9.1 percent.

This, as profit from its Philippine operations, which accounts for 73 percent of JFC’s worldwide system wide sales, actually improved by 11.1 percent.

To recall, Smashburger was only consolidated in the financial statements of JFC in April 2018 when JFC assumed 85 percent of the equity shares of the American fast-food chain.

System wide sales of Jollibee, a measure of all sales to consumers, both from company-owned and franchised stores rose by 18.1 percent in the first quarter of 2019 to P54.3 billion.

Sales in the Philippines particularly improved by 9.5 percent during the quarter versus a year ago, mostly from new stores which accounted for 7.8 percent of the growth rate.